Popular Patchwork Magazine - January Issue

One of our own mid-west branch members, Paula Rafferty has recently had one of her quilts published in a English patchwork magazine.

The January issue of Popular Patchwork magazine had a piece in it about the last Irish Patchwork Society exhibition. Paula Rafferty's quilt "Life Cycle" was featured in this article.

Congratulations Paula!

January Patchwork Meeting

The theme of the January meeting was log cabins. The meeting was very well attended, and there was a lot of visitors on the night (some of whom joined the IPS on the night),

Loretta O'Brien gave a slideshow showing some of the most well-known lay-outs of the block e.g. zig-zag, sunshine & shadows etc.

Paula Rafferty showed step-by-step how the log cabin block is constructed. She showed how chain-piecing can speed up the block construction. She also demonstrated the use of "magic paper" in foundation piecing of the block which eliminates the need to remove the paper afterwards.

There were a number of log cabin quilts on display which show how effective the block can be, and how different each quilt is.

These pieces show the use of different widths of strips used in the block construction which gives a curved effect to the block

There were a number of entries for the cushion challenge.

Ann Bradshaw's cushion was voted the winner of the January challenge. Her piece used a lot of folded samples and stitchery to create a wonderful textured cushion.

Gillian Killick entered a crazy pieced cushion which was done in a very vibrant colour scheme. The photo doesn't do justice to the colours she used.
Gilian Sheehan entered this cushion which was pieced in a very unique layou and colour scheme.

Log Cabin

The January meeting is going to be a seminar on log cabin patchwork.

The Log Cabin quilt pattern has been a long standing favorite over the years because it is simple to make, is very versatile and can be made by beginner quilters.
Traditionally, in many of the old quilts the center square was red, which was to symbolize the hearth of the home. The overall effect of the log cabin quilt is achieved by the use of light and dark fabrics and how they are arranged.

One very good book on the subject is "The Ultimate Log Cabin Quilt Book" by Patrica Cox and Maggi McCormack Gordon (2004) .

There are thousands of links relating to log cabin patchwork on the internet. Just type "log cabin patchwork" into http://www.google.ie/ and see how many hits you get! A few related links are:

Kirstin la Flamme has instructions on how to make a table runner using log cabin piecing. http://www.kristinlaflamme.com/ModLogTableRunner.html

This link shows how to piece a log cabin block:
http://home.howstuffworks.com/log-cabin-quilt-block.htm

This website gives a little animated sequence on how to piece a log cabin block.

http://www.nmia.com/~mgdesign/qor/styles/logcabin/logcabin.htm

January Challenge - Cushion Cover

The January challenge is to make a cushion cover. The cushions to be used in the challenge were given out at the December meeting.
Don't forget to bring your masterpieces with you on Friday night....